By KAYLIE CRAWFORD, Columnist
“People only treat you one way: the way you allow them.”
A few days ago I was on the phone with my mother complaining about how someone I care for dearly wasn’t treating me nicely. I went on and on about how upset it made me and asked her what I should do.
She replied with, “Kaylie Nicole, if you do not like the way someone is treating you then say something! You are 18, you need to stand up for yourself. I don’t care if it is someone you love or if it is someone you cannot stand. Say something.”
I thought she was crazy. I’ve always been taught to be kind to anyone and everyone. I thought it was better to turn my cheek when things were said about me that I didn’t like. But, maybe I’m taking my kindness too far?
I’m the type of person who tries to avoid any sort of confrontation or argument. I hate it. It honestly kills me inside. And that’s exactly what I do, I keep it inside. I let all this anger, frustration, and sadness stew inside of me. I would rather have someone treat me terribly instead of speaking up.
How many of us are guilty of this? How many of us bite our tongues and just let someone treat us terribly? I understand that not every situation needs a reaction and not all situations are worth making a big deal about. But, too often we choose to let people walk over us like a rug and choose not to speak out and stand up for ourselves. But the question is: is choosing to remain quiet worth sacrificing our own self-respect?
The answer, obviously, is no. But, sometimes it’s easier said than done. Life is short. You shouldn’t spend all of your life as a rug. If you feel disrespected, neglected, forgotten, or wronged you owe it to yourself to stand up and say something.
Too many of us keep our feelings to ourselves in an effort to avoid feeling insecure or to hurt someone’s feelings. I cannot say it enough how wrong this is. In our efforts to save someone’s feelings we are not only letting them take advantage of us but also letting them disrespect us. No one, under any circumstance, should ever feel this way. So do it. Stand up for yourself and tell anyone and everyone that treats you wrong, “I deserve better than this.” Because you honestly do. You deserve the world and if someone isn’t giving you the world then say something and walk away. Allow yourself to be independent and confident in who you are.
So, thank you, mom. For opening my eyes an showing me that I am in fact not a rug and it is okay to say something.